Fence dropper

ABSTRACT

A wire fence dropper with top and bottom grips for engaging top and bottom wires of a fence has intermediate catches for intermediate fence wires, each catch being two opposite U-bends one above the other, interconnected by a transverse S-bend in one curve of which the fence wire seats.

United States Patent Sachs 1 June 20, 1972 541 FENCE DROPPER 576,4552/1897 Johnson ..256/48 607,204 7/1898 Warner 1 ..256/7 [72] Invent 1 32";1" Sachs Brsbane Queen 834,867 10/1906 Biesemeier.. .256/32 x S1,647,913 11 1927 Herrod "256/35 [73] Assignee: National Nail Pty. Ltd.,Mayne Junction,

Brisbane, Queensland Australia FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS [22]Filed June 8 1970 250,297 3/1964 Australia ..256/32 [2]] A l. No 44,036Primary E.\-aminerDennis L. Taylor Artorney0berlin, Maky, Donnelly &Renner [52] US. Cl ..256/47, 256/48 57 ABSTRACT [5|] Int. Cl ..E04h17/02 I 581 Field of Search .256/47, 48, 32, 33, 34 A We fence dropperWlth 1 and bottom grips tor s s g top and bottom wires of a fence hasintermediate catches for intermediate fence wires, each catch being twoopposite U [56] References cued bends one above the other,interconnected by a transverse S- n- STATES PATENTS bend in one curve ofwhich the fence wire seats. 315,767 4/1885 Goodwin ..256/48 X 2 Claims,3 Drawing Figures 19 [fins 18 0 20 A FENCE DROPPER This inventionrelates to an improved fence dropper.

It is well known to make fence droppers of wire, such a fence dropperhaving a generally upright portion with its upper and lower ends bentsubstantially at right angles, inthe same direction, each being shapedto form a grip substantially in the form of an elongated helix withwhichthe top or bottom wires of a fence, as the case may be, may beinter-twisted, the main upright part of the dropper being formed atintervals with intermediate catches, each for engagement with anintermediate wire of the fence.

A disadvantage in these fence droppers'hitherto made is that they are sodesigned that to engage the top and bottom grips, the intermediatecatches are so turned as to tend to kink the fence wires engagedtherewith, and so difficulty will be encountered if any wire should bebroken,- repaired and subsequently re-strained, as such a wire will beheld firmlyat each dropper. Another disadvantage is that such a dropperis so designed that it must bemade of fairly heavy gauge wire, forif anengaged fence wire is forced downwardly, it acts to bring abouttorsional stresses in the dropper, which must be made'of wire ofsufficient diameter to resist these. The droppersare therefore heavier,and also less resiliently flexible, than is desirable. As a result theyare more difficult totransport, and whenv installed may not recoversatisfactorily from being sharply bent by an impact load. Furthermoresuch droppers are not well suited to simple and economical manufactureby machine.

The present invention has been devised with the general object ofevercomingthe said present disadvantages, by providing a fence dropperof such novel and improved construction that it is very simple andeconomical tomanufacture; and which, not being subjected to unduetorsional stresses when installed in a fence, may be made of smallerdiameter wire than commonly used hitherto, with the advantages ofincreased resilience, lower weight and lower cost.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention residesbroadly in a fence dropper of the type formed of wire and having at topand bottom means for engagement with wires of a fence, and a series ofintermediate catches for engagement with intermediate wires of thefence, characterized in that each such intermediate catch is comprisedof two U- bends formed in the wire in opposite directions one above theother and interconnected by a transverse section preferably in the formof an S-bend, such that a fence wire may be passed up between the lowerU-bend and the portion of wire extending downwardly from the invertedupper U-bend, and seated on the transverse section, preferably in thedownwardly extending curve of the transverse S-bend, and adjacent to theportion of wire extending up from the lower U-bend,'and to the saidportion of wire extending down from the upper inverted U-bend. Otherfeatures of the invention will become apparent from the followingdescription.

One exemplary embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanyingdrawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a partly broken-away side elevational view of wires of a fencewith a dropper according to the invention engaged therewith,

FIG. 2 is a sectional view along line 2-2 in FIG. 1, and

FIG. 3 is an elevational view of an intermediate catch of the dropper,to enlarged scale, and in the direction of the arrow 3 in FIG. 2.

The fence dropper shown in the drawings is formed of a single piece 10of spring wire, which may be of slightly heavier gauge than the wires ofa fence to which it is to be applied. At

top and at bottom, the wire 10 is bent through an angle somewhat morethan a right angle to form a grip l l, inwhich a further bend is formedat 12, in opposite direction, through a small angle, and another bend13, again in reversed direction and through an angle of, say, about isformed near to the extremity of the grip. In the two grips 11, then, theextremities are bent substantially towards each other. Neither of thegrips is bent helically, the axis of the wire comprising the grip beingsubstantially in the plane of the upper or lower part of'the'wire 10from which the grip 11 extends.

The upper grip 11 may be intertwisted with the topwire 14 of a fence,and the bottom grip may be intertwisted with the bottom fence wire 15,as shown in FIG. 1, and since the grips 11 are bent in normallysubstantially vertical planes, the fence wires 14 and 15 will require tobe bent, when intertwisted, in substantially horizontal planes.

At the required intervals, the required number of intermediate catches16 are formed by appropriately shaping the wire 10. At each of thesepositions, the wire 10 extending normally downwards is shaped to form aU-bend 17, which is substantially in the form of part of a helix, andfrom the extremity of which the wire is shaped to form a transverseS-bend 18, with two fairly sharply curved bends in opposite directions.From the S-bend, the wire is shaped to form a further U-bend 19, similarto the U-bend 17 but inverted, so that from it the wire 10 continuesdownwardly, its axis substantially parallel to but displaced from thatof the wire above the catch 16.

, Each of the intermediate fence wires 20 shown in FIG. 1 is b end 19 ofthe catch 16. The dropper requires to be turned to I engage the grips 11with the top and bottom fence wires 14 and 15, and this turning of thedropper so positions the S-bend 18 of each catch that the intermediatewire 20, passing through the upper inverted U-bend 18 is prevented bythe S- bend 18 from moving down from this U-bend; and the fence wirewill tend to seat in the downward curve of the S-bend, and will beclosely adjacent to the sections of wire 10 leading to and'from thecatch, but without the fence wire 20 being kinked thereby, and withoutthe dropper being subjected to torsional stresses at or in the vicinityof the catches.

Each intermediate catch of the fence dropper may be easily formedmechanically by the engagement of the wire at an appropriate position bya bifurcated mandrel which is simply related through a sufficient angleto form the catch, from which the mandrel may then be withdrawn. The topand bottom grips 11 are also easily formed mechanically.

Fence droppers according to the invention will be found to be simple andeconomical to manufacture, of light weight and therefore economicallytransported, and capable of being easily and conveniently applied to thewires of a fence, any one of which may be strained without displacing ordistorting the fence dropper. As light gauge spring wire is used in themanufacture of the droppers, they will not be likely, if bent evenfairly sharply by an impact load, to remain bent, but will resilientlyresume normal form, holding the fence wires in correct spacedarrangement.

lclaim:

l. A wire fence dropper comprising, at top and bottom, grips extendinggenerally perpendicular to said fence dropper and adapted for twistedengagement with wires of a fence, said fence dropper further comprisinga series of intermediate catches adapted for engagement withintermediate wires of the fence, each such intermediate catch beingcomprised of two U-bends formed in the wire in opposite directions onegenerally above the other and interconnected by a transverse sectionsuch that a fence wire may be passed up between the lower U-bend and theportion of wire extending generally vertically downwardly from the upperinverted U-bend and seated, when said dropper is subsequently turned, onthe transverse section, the vertically extending portion of wireextending up from the lower U-bend being closely adjacent one side ofsaid fence wire and said portion of wire extending generally verticallydownwardly from the upper. inverted U- wire, the transverse sectioninclining upwardly from its 7 juncform a seating for said fence wire,leading from the upper inverted U-bend, and an upwardly curved part,adapted to restrain said fence wire from leaving said seating, leadingto the lower U-bend.

1. A wire fence dropper comprising, at top and bottom, grips extendinggenerally perpendicular to said fence dropper and adapted for twistedengagement with wires of a fence, said fence dropper further comprisinga series of intermediate catches adapted for engagement withintermediate wires of the fence, each such intermediate catch beingcomprised of two U-bends formed in the wire in opposite directions onegenerally above the other and interconnected by a transverse sectionsuch that a fence wire may be passed up between the lower U-bend and theportion of wire extending generally vertically downwardly from the upperinverted U-bend and seated, when said dropper is subsequently turned, onthe transverse section, the vertically extending portion of wireextending up from the lower U-bend being closely adjacent one side ofsaid fence wire and said portion of wire extending generally verticallydownwardly from the upper inverted U-bend being closely adjacent theopposite side of said fence wire, the transverse section incliningupwardly from its junction at one side of the catch with the upperinverted U-bend to its junction at the other side of the catch with thelower U-bend thereby to retain said fence wire in its seated positiontherein.
 2. A wire fence dropper according to claim 1 wherein saidtransverse section has a downwardly curved part, adapted to form aseating for said fence wire, leading from the upper inverted U-bend, andan upwardly curved part, adapted to restrain said fence wire fromleaving said seating, leading to the lower U-bend.